Month: January 2011

I only mention this because his illness forced me to spend far more time in hospitals than I ever hoped to spend. He spent almost three months in ICU unites, regular hospital rooms and nursing homes. He received kidney dialysis, CAT scans, X-rays, and almost every procedure you can think of. I saw first hand what the American medical system could do and I also I also had a front row seat to its downside.

When I mention to most people the idea of seeking medical treatment in another country, especially Thailand, it invokes a knee-jerk reaction. They couldn’t conceive of going to a hospital in Thailand. They assume the facilities are unsafe, unclean, and lacking in modern equipment.

This reaction is based mostly on ignorance.

Late last year I had the chance to visit the Bangkok Hospital in Ko Samui, Thailand. It was an eye opening experience.

As I have mentioned many times, and will probably mention many times more, travel makes you perceive a place differently after you’ve been there. (Please read my 2009 essay on Travel and Tragedy and the corresponding quote from Adam Smith.)

Last week there were riots and political protests in Tunisia and I watched the events as a detached observer. I’ve never been to Tunisia and I don’t know any Tunisians.

Boats in AcapulcoI’ve been in an internet black hole the last several days in Mexico.

Here are a few observations from my brief stay in Acapulco, Mexico:

I booked a place via Hostelworld.com. It turns out it was quite a bit out of town. The taxi ride from the airport was 610 pesos, and that was the price from the official desk in the airport. Once I got there, it turned out to just be a room attached to a house, and the family had no idea I was coming. Just as a kicker, they didn’t provide anything other than breakfast, and the only dining option was an all inclusive resort which was a 20 min walk away.

Back in November 2007 I visited Yakushima Island in Japan. It is one of the one of the most magical places I’ve visited during my travels. I created an audio slideshow of the photo I took on the island. Yakushima was the inspiration for the animated film Princess Mononoke.

I’ve recently been working on some audio slideshows again and finally got around to converting it to a video and uploading it to YouTube. I’ve decided to repost it for your enjoyment.

I've been to Fiji several times now, and would gladly go back againMelanie Bishop Fine asks: How do you decide which place to visit next? Do you prefer to visit new destinations or return to ones you have visited before?

There are a small number of places in the world that I really want to visit. I’d could probably count them on my hands. These are high priority places that I absolutely want to visit. Antarctica is a good example.

There are a whole bunch of places that I’d be happy to visit and I have no problems going if invited. The vast majority of the world fall into this category.

There are a few places I have no desire to visit. There aren’t many of those and I don’t have to worry about going to the middle of Congo anytime soon.

Most of the trips I’ll be doing in 2011 fall into the middle category. Where I end up going will often depend on who invites me. It keeps my costs low and it adds a sort of random/surprise element to my travel planning.

However, I have an eye on those places in the first group. I will try to get to one or two of those places every year. I think in 2011 I may go to Antarctica or the Galapagos Islands. I really want to start doing more adventure travel. Something above and beyond visiting cities and historical places.

This week’s traveler is Chris Guillebeau. There are very few people I know of who have been to more countries than me, but Chis is one of them. He has created as his mission to visit all 192 member states of the UN by the age of 35. So far, he’s been to about 150. Much of his travel is done through the extensive use of frequent flyer miles and around the world tickets, an area in which he has become an expert. (Believe it or not, since I began traveling in 2007 I have never purchased an around the world ticket or cashed in any frequent flyer miles)

Chris is also a published author and his book The Art of Non-Conformity was released last fall. I received a review copy of the book which I ended up carrying with me to five countries (South Africa, Canada, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao). In addition to discussing travel and how to make the most of frequent flyer miles, he also discusses entrepreneurship and making the most out of your life. The book itself is a pretty easy read. I managed to finish it in a little over an hour while flying to South Africa.Continue reading “Sunday Traveler – Chris Guillebeau”

Last night at about 3:30am I achieved Lightroom Zero, or in other words, I finally finished all my photo editing.

If you’ve noticed, I haven’t written much in the last month. This is because I don’t like writing unless I have corresponding images to go with a story. That means my article writing is on hold until I can get my photos edited. The problem with editing photos is that when I go out to shoot, by the time I come back it is usually late, I’m tired, hungry and I put off editing the photos for later. By the time ‘later’ comes around, I’ve taken more photos and am probably in a new city. Fast forward through enough travel and I have thousands of images I have to plod through, which is exactly where I found myself. Once the pile gets big enough, it is so daunting that you come up with reason to put off doing it and that just makes matters worse.

I’ve come to realize the hard way that I need to change how I’m doing things. Traveling is one thing. Constantly moving and trying to run small business is quite another. Most of the productivity tips I read really don’t apply to my special set of circumstances. I don’t have a regular daily routine, I’m seldom in the same place for more than a week, and I’m often changing time zones. Continue reading “Being Productive and Working While Traveling”